Vital events. Births
Statistical activity code: 30206
Number of births registered during a calendar year and distribution of births by demographic characteristics. The indicators are published in absolute and relative terms (as rates). Live births by type of settlement, place of residence, month of birth, birth order, birth weight, gestational age and sex Live births by mother’s and father’s age group, ethnic nationality, marital status and educational level The data in the birth tables are only for live births. | |
Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK) Statistical Classification of Regional Units of Estonia International Standard Codes for the Representation of the Names of Countries (ISO 3166) Classification of Ethnicities Codes for the Representation of Names of Languages (ISO 639-2) International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011) Country of Citizenship List | |
Births | |
Administrative unit – a unit based on administrative division, the name, type and boundaries of which are determined by law and other legislation, and in the territory of which state or local government administration is carried out. The administrative units of the territory of Estonia are counties, rural municipalities and cities. Age-specific fertility rate – annual number of live births per 1,000 women of a specific age group (based on mean annual population). Birth order – the number that shows the live-birth order of children to the mother. Child born from consensual union – a child whose parents are not legally married at the time of registration of birth, but who have defined their cohabitation as a consensual union. Does not coincide with births where the father has been identified. Child born from legal marriage – a child whose father was identified on the basis of marriage, irrespective of the mother’s legal marital status at the time of the child’s birth. Citizenship – a permanent legal relationship between a person and the country that he or she is a citizen of. City settlement region – neighbouring settlements where most inhabitants live in regions where population density is greater than 1,000 inhabitants per km2 and the population figure in clusters of such density is greater than 5,000. Grid map data have been used for determining regions based on population density and figure. See settlement region. Country of birth – mother’s country of residence at the time of the child’s birth. Crude birth rate – annual number of live births per 1,000 inhabitants (based on mean annual population). Date of registration of vital event – the date the vital event was registered at the registry offices. Date of occurrence of vital event – the exact date when the event occurred, which does not depend on the date of registration of the event. Educational level – person’s highest educational attainment. Educational level is determined by the highest level completed in the formal education system (general education school, vocational school or university). Ethnic nationality – a person's belonging to an ethnic group based on self-determination of the person. As a rule, ethnic nationality is consistent throughout a person's life. A child’s ethnic nationality is determined by the parents; if a child’s (aged 0–17) ethnic nationality is not available in the population register, the mother’s ethnic nationality is assigned to the child. Fertility rate – annual number of live births per 1,000 women aged 15–49 (based on mean annual population). Identification of father – shows whether father is identified or not identified on the birth record. Father is identified if the birth record is based on a marriage certificate, judgement about identification of paternity or joint application of parents. Father is not identified if the birth record does not include such information. Live birth – delivery of a liveborn child, i.e. a child showing at least one sign of life (heartbeat, breathing, movement), irrespective of the duration of pregnancy. Mean annual population – arithmetic mean of the population number at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year (beginning of the next year), rounded to a whole number. Used in the calculation of rates associated with vital events during a year. Number of deliveries – total number of deliveries, including stillbirths, in the country. Multiple births are taken into account as one delivery. Settlement region – a territorial unit consisting of settlements with the same population density. Based on population density, settlement regions are divided into city, town and rural settlement regions. In the case of a division into two, city and town settlement regions are added. The division is applied since 2018. The data for the years back to 2015 have been recalculated. More information is available at: http://metaweb.stat.ee/get_classificator_file.htm?id=4601461&siteLanguage=ee Settlement unit – administrative units (rural municipalities and cities) are divided into settlement units. Settlement units are settlements: cities, city districts, towns, small towns and villages. Place of residence – a place where a person resides as at the beginning of the year according to his/her statement or according to the population register. Rural settlement region – neighbouring settlements where population density is lower than 200 inhabitants per km2 or a region with higher population density where the population figure is under 5,000. Grid map data have been used for determining regions based on population density and figure. See settlement region. Stillbirth or late foetal death – an intra-uterine death of a foetus weighing at least 500 grams at birth, which took place after the 22nd week of pregnancy. Town settlement region – neighbouring settlements where most inhabitants live in regions where population density is 200–1,000 inhabitants per km2 and the population figure in clusters of such density is greater than 5,000, but which do not constitute a city settlement region. Grid map data have been used for determining regions based on population density and figure. See settlement region. Urban settlement – a city, city without municipal status, town and town as a rural municipality. Used in the tables that follow the administrative division prior to the 2017 administrative reform. Rural settlement – small town and village. Used in the tables that follow the administrative division prior to the 2017 administrative reform. | |
Birth | |
Births by women who are permanent residents of Estonia FRAME Births in the given year registered in the Population Register | |
Estonia as a whole Administrative units Counties | |
1919–… | |
Not applicable |
DIRECTLY APPLICABLE LEGAL ACTS Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 November 2013 on European demographic statistics (Text with EEA relevance) Regulation (EU) No 205/2014 of 4 March 2014 laying down uniformed conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council on European demographic statistics, as regards breakdowns of data, deadlines and data revisions OTHER LEGAL ACTS Not available OTHER AGREEMENTS Statistical Office of the European Union (Eurostat) United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 32, § 34, § 35, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. | |
The treatment of confidential data is regulated by the Procedure for Protection of Data Collected and Processed by Statistics Estonia (in Estonian). See more details on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section Õigusaktid. |
Notifications about the dissemination of statistics are published in the release calendar, which is available on the website. Every year on 1 October, the release times of the statistical database, news releases, main indicators by IMF SDDS and publications for the following year are announced in the release calendar (in the case of publications – the release month). | |
All users have been granted equal access to official statistics: dissemination dates of official statistics are announced in advance and no user category (incl. Eurostat, state authorities and mass media) is provided access to official statistics before other users. Official statistics are first published in the statistical database. If there is also a news release, it is published simultaneously with data in the statistical database. Official statistics are available on the website at 8:00 a.m. on the date announced in the release calendar. |
Not published | |
Not published | |
Data are published in the statistical database at https://andmed.stat.ee/en/stat under the subject area “Population / Population indicators and composition / Main demographic indicators” in the following tables: RV030: Births, deaths and natural increase RV031: Births, deaths and natural increase. Estonians RV032: Births, deaths and natural increase by sex and county RV033: Fertility indicators, under the subject area “Population / Population indicators and composition / Population figure and composition” in the following table: RV0213U: Components of change in population figure by county, administrative division as at 01.01.2018 and in the tables RV061–RV191 of the subject area “Population / Vital events / Births”. In the subject area “Discontinued datasets / Population. Archive / Vital events. Archive” are discontinued datasets RV102–RV17, RV69 and RV70. | |
The dissemination of data collected for the purpose of producing official statistics is guided by the requirements provided for in § 33, § 34, § 35, § 36, § 38 of the Official Statistics Act. Access to microdata and anonymisation of microdata are regulated by Statistics Estonia’s procedure for dissemination of confidential data for scientific purposes. | |
The data serve as input for statistical activities 30101 “Population”, 30203 “Vital events. Abortions”, 50101 “Regional development” and 50201 “Sustainable development indicators”. | |
Implementation of the residency index in demographic statistics | |
Not available |
To assure the quality of processes and products, Statistics Estonia applies the EFQM Excellence Model, the European Statistics Code of Practice and the Quality Assurance Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS QAF). Statistics Estonia is also guided by the requirements in § 7. “Principles and quality criteria of producing official statistics” of the Official Statistics Act. | |
Statistics Estonia performs all statistical activities according to an international model (Generic Statistical Business Process Model – GSBPM). According to the GSBPM, the final phase of statistical activities is overall evaluation using information gathered in each phase or sub-process; this information can take many forms, including feedback from users, process metadata, system metrics and suggestions from employees. This information is used to prepare the evaluation report which outlines all the quality problems related to the specific statistical activity and serves as input for improvement actions. |
Ministry of Social Affairs Ministry of the Interior Estonian Institute for Population Studies National Institute for Health Development | |
Since 1996, Statistics Estonia has conducted reputation and user satisfaction surveys. All results are available on the website of Statistics Estonia in the section User surveys. | |
Use of administrative data ensures complete coverage and timeliness of data. |
Using administrative data ensures data accuracy. If necessary, the data are completed and cleaned in Statistics Estonia using other administrative registers (Population Register, Register of Education). | |
Not applicable | |
In statistics, the births in which the mother was a permanent resident of Estonia are counted. As the required registered residence data are received from the residency index and Population Register, the number of births counted in statistics depends on the quality of residence data in the residency index and Population Register. |
Birth data by counties have been published since 1963. The county borders have changed twice during the reindependence period. In 2005, Lääne-Viru county increased and Järva county decreased. The borders of most counties changed in 2017 due to the administrative reform. Recalculations according to the new administrative division have been made to the population numbers from 1 January 2015. Data by municipality have been published in current statistics since 1989. Birth data have been published every year based on the administrative division as at the end of the year. When addressing these changes, the overview of EHAK (Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements) changes should be used. The years 2015–2016 were recalculated according to the new administrative division, and thus, since 2015, the regions have not changed in the publication of births. | |
Before 2014, data were obtained from statistical birth forms, which were completed at the time of preparing the birth record. The forms were also completed by the foreign missions of Estonia. The data of births by counties have been published since 1963. The boundaries of counties have been changed twice since Estonia regained independence. In 2005, Lääne-Viru county became larger and Järva county became smaller. In 2017, the boundaries of most counties changed due to the administrative reform. Recalculations according to the new administrative division have been made for the time back to 1 January 2015. Data by municipalities have been continuously published since 1989. The data of births have been published annually according to the administrative division at year end. When considering these changes, the overview of changes in the Classification of Estonian administrative units and settlements (EHAK) should be used. The data of 2015–2016 were recalculated according to the new administrative division; therefore, since 2015, regions have not changed in the published statistics on births. | |
Information about all vital events is collected on the same basis, so the cross-sectoral analysis is possible. | |
Not applicable |
The data revision policy and notification of corrections are described in the section Principles of dissemination of official statistics of the website of Statistics Estonia. | |
The published data may be revised if the methodology is modified, errors are discovered, new or better data become available. |
SURVEY DATA Not used ADMINISTRATIVE DATA Data on births registered in the given year are received electronically from the Population Register of the Ministry of the Interior. After the end of the year, data of the Estonian Medical Birth Registry received from the National Institute for Health Development are added to these data. DATA FROM OTHER STATISTICAL ACTIVITIES Data from statistical activity 30101 “Population” are used (to calculate the rates). | |
Annual Monthly | |
An extract from the Estonian Medical Birth Registry is transmitted to Statistics Estonia by the National Institute for Health Development, the authorised processor of the register. Data of the Population Register are received via the X-Road. Data of the Estonian Medical Birth Registry are transmitted via e-mail. | |
The data of live-born children and their mothers (personal identification codes and names) are used for data checking, cleaning and adjustment. If necessary, data accuracy is checked against the data in the Population Register and compared with data collected into the Statistical Database of vital events from previous events. | |
A birth is included in the total number of births in Estonia, if the mother was a permanent resident of Estonia at the beginning and at the end of the year, even if the child was born outside Estonia. If the child's mother was a permanent resident of Estonia only at the end of the year, the mother’s registered place of residence at the time of the child’s birth or the child's place of birth is used to determine whether to include the child in immigration or in the number of births. If the child's mother was a permanent resident of Estonia only at the beginning of the year, the mother’s registered place of residence at the time of the child’s birth or the child's place of birth is used to determine whether to include the child in emigration or in the number of births. The basis for yearly processing of the data of births is the birth date of the child. A birth of a child must be registered within a month, but sometimes the information reaches registers later. The births, about which information is received after the data of the actual birth year are processed, are as an exception accounted for in the dataset of the birth’s registration year. In the case of births in Estonia, the mother’s place of residence is registered as the child's place of residence. If the mother's place of residence is not known but the father's place of residence is known and is located in Estonia, it is registered as the child's place of residence. If the places of residence of both parents are unknown, “child’s place of residence is not known” is entered. | |
Not applied |